All-or-Nothing

'All-or-Nothings' is a threat-assessment term used by the PRT to refer to capes<ref name=II11.1>“Birdbrain is the big threat. The muscle is second to that.”

“I’m flattered,” I heard Birdbrain’s ethereal voice.

“She’s halfway to being an all-or-nothing threat. Like Swansong with her blasts, but with aim.”

I saw Bluestocking turn her head, asking a question. Birdbrain answered, no doubt passing on what we were saying.

“You’re using that term wrong!” Bluestocking called out. “All-or-nothing isn’t right!”

Bitter Pill said something, annoyed. Too far away to be heard.

“If she aims she’s guaranteed a hit if her gun’s at the right point horizontally. Vertically, doesn’t matter. All-or-nothings are PRT terminology for anyone who’s strong enough that you can’t defend against their attack unless you defend against anything, can’t dodge unless you can dodge everything. She’s halfway there and that makes her a good enough shot we can’t afford to get in an engagement. Headshot every time.” - Excerpt from Blinding 11.1</ref> with highly potent powers.

All-or-Nothings specialized in directly dealing damage can be referred as Annihilators, so there is some overlap with the old Nuker classification.

Examples

Ashley Stillons<ref name=R2/>
Birdbrain<ref name=II11.1/>
Chort (Speculative)<ref>“Come, look up at me,” she told Chevalier. She put a hand at his chin, and Chort helped her, forcing Chevalier’s head up until it couldn’t move any further. Chort wore a wolf pelt with goat horns over head and shoulders, and despite being only sixteen, was strong on a level that surpassed even heroes like Alexandria. When he moved, he did so with care. To him, Chevalier was like eggshell. - Excerpt from Interlude 15.z II</ref><ref name=R2/>
Clairvoyant
Clockblocker<ref name=R1/><ref name=26.5/>
Contessa<ref name=R1>Torrieltar: How fast can Path to Victory react to unforeseen changes?

Wildbow: All changes are foreseen, as a rule. Can't cite anything, but there's a line that sorta appears in the story, where you run into the perfects (perfect defense, perfect offense) and stuff gets fucky - and the rule of thumb is that 'unless your ability beats -everything-, it doesn't beat this'. For processing power Contessa's ability would be on this level (as with Flechette's Sting, Clockblocker's inviolability, Siberian's invulnerability). - Wildbow on Reddit</ref>
Eidolon<ref name="24.4e2">Phir Sē’s portal opened beneath Behemoth’s feet, aimed upward, and a plume of light speared into the sky, consuming Behemoth, covering him.

Eidolon’s power held. He’d had the situation explained, had been given time to let his power build up to full strength, and his passenger had supplied something with a durability on par with Clockblocker’s ability. Inviolable.

“That’ll do,” Imp said, quiet. The light continued to flow upward, a narrow column no more than fifty feet across, billowing out only slightly as it reached the top of Eidolon’s barrier, parting smoke and clouds in a circular ring, revealing the intensely blue sky above. The entire sky seemed to brighten as the light dissipated beyond our atmosphere.

Phir Sē’s light faded, and the barrier collapsed.

Dust continued to fill the area, plumes of it.

Behemoth lurched forward.

Not quite Behemoth, but a skeleton, something like a skeleton. Emaciated, a black-red frame dripping with ichor, it had all of the key features, the basic underlying structure with the horns and the gaping mouth, the claws and the way the shoulders were broad enough to host his bulky frame, but a good eighty percent of him had been torn away, shredded. A skeleton covered in a veneer of meat. - Excerpt from Crushed 24.4</ref><ref name=R2/> (Depending on the powers he has at a given moment)
The Subway Cluster<ref name=R1/>
Glaistig Uaine<ref name=R2>Siberian, Damsel, Scrub, Flechette, and Grey Boy are Worm capes at the 'if anything can penetrate that defense, these guys penetrate that defense' level of attack. Eidolon and Glaistig Uaine have such attacks in their toolkits.
[...]
Alexandria is basically a superman expy with top tier (beaten only by people in the first paragraph) durability and a super brain that's picked up martial arts. - Wildbow on Reddit</ref> (Depending on the shadows she has at a given moment)
Gray Boy<ref name=R2/>
Hookline<ref>“He’s in the company of Hookline. Minor mover, has a hundred-foot long cable he telekinetically controls. It can’t be broken or damaged, short of some very select powers, and it will shake off or slip free of a lot of things that would snag or impede another weapon. Frost, hands that try to grab it. So don’t try. It moves faster and acts like a whip, so be super careful if a fight happens. There’s a hook on the end, and he’s most dangerous if you’re at or just inside that hundred foot limit of his range where the hook is flying around. Which brings me to my next point.” - Excerpt from Shade 4.5</ref>
Scrub<ref name=R2/>
Siberian<ref name=R1/><ref name=26.5/>
Torso<ref>helljack666: Torso is an Armor+Negate+Immortal Brute by Weaverdice Logic, right?

Wildbow: I wouldn't normally mix three together.
Shield rather than armor, since it's partial protection only protecting against hits to certain parts.
Shield x Negate. - Conversation with Wildbow on Reddit</ref>
Unnamed Fallen member<ref>I twisted around, exerting force against the immobile obsidian statue, and she came to life, stumbling back, just as I saw the attacker behind me freeze.

One attacker, with two bodies. Whatever one wasn’t active was immobile and apparently invincible. Whichever one was active had enhanced speed and the strength that came with hitting things very fast.
[...]
The lizard-demon Fallen charged after me again, in lieu of answer. I lashed out, and she became statue. It was like hitting something Clockblocker-affected, from my hometown’s old Wards team. No result, nothing got through. - Excerpt from Pitch 6.4</ref>
Unnamed Lord of Loss soldier<ref>Foil turned the spider-mounted crossbow around to fire, and the blaster threw something to their feet- crystal encased them, freezing them immobile within for less than a second. It was less than a second because Foil’s shot hit the crystal and both the bolt and the crystal shattered. - Excerpt from Blinding 11.7</ref>

Details

All-or-nothing is not strictly linked to the general threat level of a parahuman, but denotes high quality, "hard counter" nature of the power itself. For example Clockblocker, Damsel of Distress and Torso all have very strong powers once applied, but are severely limited in that three of them have to use their own legs and wits to get to the target, which hurts their general threat levels. Contessa, on the other hand, is directly aided by her power to be in the right place in the right time, which solidly puts her into 12+ "do not expect to win" category of threat.<ref>“What’s her classification?”

“Thinker. Don’t worry about the number. Just run.” - Excerpt from Drone 23.2</ref><ref>Contessa and Glaistig Uaine were easily twelves or higher on the power-ratings scale, and I could look to others with powers in that neighborhood to figure out who she was referring to. - Excerpt from Extinction 27.4</ref>

Expanding on this, the parahumans showcased here 'break' the rules that other parahumans follow.<ref name="9.2">Flechette wasn’t a breaker, though her power came close. Technically, she was a striker, a cape with the ability to apply some effect by touch or at point-blank range. The striker classification could include certain breaker effects as they were applied to things other than the cape themselves, but not always.[...]

She infused the three-foot length of sharpened metal that was mounted in her arbalest with her power. The more power there was in it, the less it was affected by the natural laws of the universe. Focusing more power into an object meant gravity, air resistance and general physics held less and less sway over it. She could tune it, make the effect longer lived, shorter lived or bias the effects to allow for more of one element or less of another.

She could do other things, but the primary benefit, the easiest thing to do, was making her ammunition punch through anything. [emphasis added] - Excerpt from Sentinel 9.2</ref> Part of what makes a parahuman an All or-Nothing is the sheer violation of physics they accomplish,<ref>Siberian was on the far side of the two-lane road that stood beside Amy’s hideout. She didn’t walk straight for Amy, but walked down the street with an almost casual slowness. She had one arm out, a hand tracing the side of the building she was walking by, as if to guide her through the effects Grue’s lightless world.

My swarm felt dust shower onto them in her wake. It was unexpected, and it demanded investigation. I moved them across the wall, and felt a gap. She wasn’t just putting her hand on the wall, but her hand and forearm through it. What did that mean?

My bugs felt more dust fall from above. A moth was bludgeoned by a rock that fell from above.

I felt realization hit me like a bucket of cold water.

Her hand was punching through the exterior wall of the building, but it was also tearing through the supports and load bearing areas. She’d made her way halfway through the ground floor. By the time she finished, part of the building was going to collapse and fall.

If the building tipped in the direction of the shattered area, it could easily fall on the mall where Amy was hiding. - Excerpt on Prey 14.2</ref> that takes them a step beyond the consequences that other parahumans have to deal with.<ref>[Alexandrai] walked across the empty building. By the time she reached the other end, she was floating, her feet not even touching the ground. She set her hands on the wall, dragged her fingertips through the concrete, then crushed it in her hands. It should have ruined her skin, left scrapes or torn her fingernails, short as they were, but it hadn’t.
[...]
Legend fired beam after beam at Siberian, but the striped woman didn’t even flinch. She was invincible on a level that surpassed even Alexandria.
[...]
Eidolon was trying to heal Hero, to teleport people out of danger when Alexandria and Legend proved unable, and changing up his abilities every few seconds to throw something new at Siberian in the hopes that something would affect her. She waded through zones of altered time, through lightning storms and force fields, tore through barricades of living wood and slapped aside a projectile so hyperdense that its gravitational field pulled cars behind it. - Excerpt from Interlude 15.z</ref>

Despite this these powers can be worked around or canceled out through various means, including:

Trump powers.<ref>The camera images that Clockblocker and company wore shifted as they scrambled away. There was a shudder as a mass landed in their midst.

Hatchet Face, dropping down from a vantage point somewhere above them.

Rachel’s dogs went on the offensive, attacking him, but their flesh was already sloughing off, their connection to Rachel shut off, their bodies disintegrating.

Parian’s creations were already deflating.

More range than the Tyrant had possessed, and the power loss was immediate.

Foil shot her crossbow, but it did surprisingly little damage. Hatchet Face pulled the bolt from his shoulder with no difficulty. - Excerpt from Sting 26.5</ref><ref>Fog approached. A wall of it, moving down the corridor. She could see normally, but the effect on her powers was absolute. It was impossible to make out any steps that moved within the fog.
[...]
She ducked. “-have a perception blocker, [...] They’ve got a thinker, I think, they planned this ahead of time, knowing I wouldn’t pick up on their presence.”
[...]
This ‘Mantellum’ had been close enough that he should have been able to block her power. He hadn’t.

Because he’d been on the other side of the portal. The power didn’t cross dimensional boundaries. - Excerpt from Interlude 29</ref>
Oblique powers.<ref>King had a flimsy hold, Jack had a stronger hold. The former Gray Boy was closer to a Labyrinth in full-on powers mode than anything else. Using powers indiscriminately, staying within an area. King was effectively immune to him, and used this to introduce himself and start leading him around. - Wildbow on Spacebattles</ref><ref>Flechette moved to shoot, then reconsidered, threw a handful of darts at Trickster instead. The darts disappeared in midair, and splinters of wood and small stones dropped straight out of the air where they had been. - Excerpt from Sentinel 9.3</ref>
Interaction with other All-or-nothing powers.<ref name=26.5/><ref name=clockline>Clockblocker hurried to Hookline’s side. A non-living weapon that would serve the same purpose-

The effect as they made contact wasn’t the same purpose. Clockblocker winced, hand pulling away, and the chain went completely limp.

Power conflict. - Excerpt from Last 20.3</ref><ref>gardenofjew: I'd guess yes because the following happens in the story:
time-frozen objects and Siberian will cancel each out-- Siberian 'pops', the object unfreezes. We see this in the S9000 arc.
A Foil! dart passes through a Siberian (and pops it) during the S9000 arc.
Since Foil>Siberian and Siberian=time-frozen, Foil>time-frozen

Wildbow: More or less. - Wildbow on Reddit</ref>

Some tinkers, such as Armsmaster,<ref>Leviathan turned to run. Armsmaster sent out one blade like a grappling hook, circled the smaller of the Endbringer’s claws with the chain. Leviathan moved, oblivious or uncaring, and Armsmaster waited until the slack was out of the chain, pressed a button.

The chain and Halberd ceased moving, and even Leviathan’s strength ceased to move it. Rather than pull away, the Endbringer skidded, fell on his back, wrist still held by the chain.
[...]
“For the record, that last trick was a temporal stasis trigger, with thanks owed to the cooperation of a subordinate of mine. Drains my battery reserves, but you don’t understand that, do you?”

Leviathan lunged, and Armsmaster fired out the grappling hook, stopped it in mid air by freezing it in time. Leviathan ran himself through on the chain, the thing spearing deep into his neck and out the back of his torso. Uncaring, the Endbringer continued to charge at Armsmaster. - Excerpt from Extermination 8.4</ref> are able to replicate these effects.

Using All-or-nothing powers is one of the very few ways to kill an Endbringer<ref name=R3>Nekron-akaMrSkeletal: I guess that works. I was actually wondering about sting. If Foil had been at the behemoth fight could she have finished behemoth when his core was exposed?

Wildbow: Yep. - Wildbow on Reddit</ref><ref>8:47 PM <•Wildbow> If you have multiple effects in place and you trap the whole Endbringer, it'll count as dead. - Answer by Wildbow on IRC, archived on Spacebattles</ref> or an “unkillable” cape like Alexandria<ref name=R2/> or Gavel.<ref>What do you do with the villains who can't be killed, like Gavel? You maybe try to wrangle some giant-killers like Flechette/Foil, but how many of those guys are there, really? - Wildbow on Spacebattles</ref>

History

Background

The only reason Humanity has a chance was because this came at the right time.<ref>Interlude 29</ref>

Story Start

Was used multiple times against the Undersiders.

Their use was showcased against Leviathan.<ref>Leviathan didn’t make noise. I kept expecting a roar, or hiss, or something, but Leviathan was dead silent. I somehow imagined a victorious howl as he broke through the barrier, crouched, and lunged into the crowd.

He stopped, and I thought he was using his afterimage, halting so it could rush forward, but even the watery echo stopped a second after it appeared, only the very edges of it continuing forward to crash violently against the sides of the alley.

For several long heartbeats, it was nearly quiet, but for the sound of rain, people’s noises of pain, mine included, and the sound of one of Kaiser’s iron columns ripping free of the wall and falling atop a pile of blades.

It took me a second to realize what had happened. Leviathan hung frozen mid-pounce, and his emerging afterimage similarly stood there, frozen in time. In the midst of the afterimage was Clockblocker, half-immersed in water. - Excerpt from Extermination 8.3</ref>

Post-Leviathan

The limitations of an All-or-nothing cape was shown against members of the Slaughterhouse Nine.

Post-Slaughterhouse Nine

Clothsline operation was important in turning the tide against Echidna and taking down Ignis Fatuus.

Post-Echidna

Several powers were used to great effect against Behemoth.

Post-Timeskip

Siberian and Clockblocker canceled each-other out.<ref name=26.5>Clockblocker fired his threads from his gauntlet. They surrounded the cube-carrier, and he froze them.

Unstoppable force against an immovable object.

Which won?

Siberian made contact with the thread and flickered out of existence, and the thread went limp. The cube fell with a crash. - Excerpt from Sting 26.5</ref>

Gold Morning

Was intrinsic in ending the event once the enemies will to fight was broken.

Early-Ward

One such cape settled in Hollow Point.

Mathers Compound Assault

Three users, two from the same cluster were on the battle showcasing the dangers of this quality.

Post-Goddess' Takeover

Bluestocking gets a clarification on the PRT usage of the term versus the general one.<ref name=II11.1/>

The Ice Breaks

Several capes of this description were grouped as 'annihilators' by Antares, meaning those with the ability to seriously hurt Titans.<ref>“Going to assist the annihilators,” I said. “I can get in close enough to help.”

“Annihilators,” Shortcut said, almost derisive.

“The people who can put actual, lasting holes in those Titans.” - Excerpt from Radiation 18.5</ref> Some though, like Gundeck, Teem and Solarstare may not actually qualify for the All-or-Nothing.<ref>Teem was the fifth of our six ‘annihilators’, though I was more of the opinion that Solarstare and Teem weren’t quite in that bracket. - Excerpt from Radiation 18.6</ref>

Clockblocker's power was used on Sveta to temporarily restrict the Simurgh's movements,<ref>Falling rubble stabbed directly down at Sveta. She unfolded, creating a hole in her midsection for it to stab through, unfolded her arm, and grabbed the Simurgh with a dozen tendrils.

Reaching back, she extended a limb toward the crowd, grabbing Clockblocker’s hand.

She was frozen, locked in place, with ten tendrils around the Simurgh’s head and two around one smaller wing. The Simurgh was positioned low to the ground. - Excerpt from Last 20.3</ref> and produced a fumble with Hookline due to similar all-or-nothing quality.<ref name=clockline/>

Trivia

It is an obvious point of contention in the fandom which capes actually fit in this category.
There was some early confusion in the fandom between those with this quality and the Breaker classification. Both break 'rules' but in different ways and in ways beyond that of the typical parahuman.

References